


The Night We Crushed the Bar

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 14:27:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6569878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scottie and Harvey take the New York bar exam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night We Crushed the Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing you recognize from Suits is mine, and please accept as fictitious any references to anything you recognize from real life.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you for the exam,” Dana said, honestly grateful as Harvey held open the door to his apartment (a fifth-floor studio walkup, about as far north as you could get without actually being in the Bronx, but she’d take it).

“My pleasure. Thanks for cooking,” he said with a bright smile as he followed her in.

“I never agreed to that,” she answered sharply, turning around with raised eyebrows. Harvey only grinned.

“No, but you will.”

Dana rolled her eyes at his confidence and glanced around the place. It was _tiny_ to the point where she was willing to bet her freshman dorm room had been bigger, but it was clean and well lit and Harvey had even made a half-hearted attempt at furniture, if by, “furniture,” you meant a queen-sized bed and a small table with two chairs. Still, it was better than having to face traffic into the city, and even though her parents had offered, she was independent enough not to want to let them pay for a hotel, especially since she was still going to be living with them another month.

“Not bad,” she said aloud, dropping her duffel bag on one of the chairs and watching uncertainly as Harvey fiddled with the air conditioner. He shrugged a bit in reply.

“It’ll do for the D.A.’s office.”

“When do you start?”

“Six weeks, but Jessica pulled some strings and I’m back in the mailroom at Gordon Schmidt & Van Dyke as a temp until then.” He paused a moment. “When do you move to DC? You find a place yet?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, I found some PhD student at Georgetown who needs a new roommate starting in September. Glover Park?” Dana shrugged. “I looked it up, not the most convenient location but it’s a good price in a relatively safe neighborhood, so take what you can get, right?”

Harvey gestured to his surroundings with an ironic smile, and she laughed.

“Okay, point taken.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and couldn’t resist leaning back and stretching a little, too exhausted and anxious to care that she and Harvey were supposed to be broken up and now here she was, getting ready to spend the next few nights in his bed. Although from the way he was eyeing her, he certainly seemed to have something besides tomorrow’s New York essays on his mind.

“What?” she asked, carefully hiding her impulse to let him know she was teasing him, as Harvey sat down next to her.

“You’re not wearing a bra,” he said, raising his eyebrows. Dana laughed.

“It’s built-in,” she pointed out, “and it’s July in Manhattan; I’m wearing as little clothing as possible.”

“I noticed.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You’ve seen me _naked_ , Harvey; how exactly are shorts and a tank top throwing you for a loop?”

“I haven’t seen you naked in a long time!” he protested.

“It’s been two months.”

“ _Two months_ , Scottie! And don’t give me that prim little, ‘I’m-not-like-you,’ look; I remember the way you jumped me after last summer.”

“Last summer we were in a relationship and agreed not to sleep with anyone else,” she pointed out calmly. “This summer, we’re single and free to see other people. There’s a difference.”

Harvey’s face fell for a second, and Dana’s heart gave a little lurch.

“Well…have you?” he asked, in a voice surprisingly hesitant for Harvey. “Slept with someone else, I mean.”

“That’s my business,” she replied swiftly, before softening. “Although you of all people should know I’ve spent the past two months doing nothing but studying for the bar, so…”

“It’d be okay if you had,” he offered, half-heartedly. “I mean…we did say.”

“Oh, I know. I just…I’ve been busy.” She shrugged. “And I haven’t wanted to.”

“Me neither,” he admitted, with a slightly sheepish, slightly lopsided grin.

“Well, I guess that explains how the tank top has you all worked up,” she said, grinning back at him.

“Scottie…” he began, scrambling a little so that he was lying down beside her, propped up on one elbow as he looked at her frankly. “Do you wanna…?”

Dana held back a smile and looked him up and down, admiring the way his T-shirt draped over his chest and remembering all too well what that chest felt like pressed up against her.

“I’m not saying, ‘no,’” she said, softly, “but I don’t know if it’s the best idea right now. Harvey, the bar exam starts tomorrow, and as embarrassing as it would be for me to fail it, my job doesn’t depend on it. You can’t wait until February…which means we should probably get something to eat, do a little last-minute review, and get to sleep early.”

“I’m not going to fail, Scottie,” he almost-whined, and Dana laughed and rolled over onto her side to face him.

“I didn’t say you were, but plenty of people do, and I just want us to put ourselves in the best position to do well, and staying up half the night screwing isn’t going to do that.”

“Who says we have to stay up half the night?”

“Harvey. It’s been two months. Let’s be realistic here.”

They grinned at each other for a moment, and then Dana sat back up, Harvey following her lead.

“So what kind of food do you have in this place?” she asked, curiously. “Since apparently I’m cooking, and all.” She got to her feet and wandered over to the kitchen area to poke around in the fridge and cabinets. “Bread…peanut butter…pasta…tomato sauce…sliced cheese…beer…” She shook her head. “Harvey, you’re twenty-seven years old. Eventually you _are_ going to have to learn about fruits and vegetables.”

“I have bananas,” he protested, and Dana just shook her head a little more.

“Is there a bodega nearby?” she asked, already putting her sandals back on and reaching for her handbag.

“Scottie – ”

“Hey. Looks like we’re doing pasta, and that’s fine, but you’re crazy if you think I’m not going to need some onions and garlic and whatever vegetable I can get my hands on first.”

He considered, then offered her a slightly winsome smile.

“Maybe we should just get takeout?”

Dana rolled her eyes.

“You’re such a guy.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Whatever, Harvey,” she said, indulgently. “This is your party.”

“Great. I’m ordering Chinese.” He picked up the phone and Dana couldn’t help laughing as she reached into her duffel and pulled out the mess of New York study materials leftover from her BARBRI class, spreading them out over the table before Harvey even had a chance to object.

“Oh, for God’s sake, Scottie,” he said when he looked over and noticed. “You were number one in your class at Harvard. You’re going to kill it.”

“I know I am,” she said calmly, “because I’m _studying_.” Harvey rolled his eyes, but she sighed and looked up at him.

“Okay, fine, I don’t currently need to be studying, but I _do_ need to stay up at least long enough to eat, and looking through this stuff and realizing I know everything is both calming and an ego-boost. And _to be fair_ , this is just the New York stuff.”

Harvey looked at her for a long moment, and Dana bit back a wince, positive he was going to keep teasing her. Instead he nodded slightly and calmly pulled out the other chair so that he could sit down across from her.

“Pass the wills and estates, please,” he said, smiling slightly. Dana grinned back and pushed some papers towards him.

“Sure you don’t wanna brush up on your civ pro?” she teased.

“Be serious, Scottie,” he said sternly, but his eyes were smiling even as he dutifully started reading.

The food showed up a short time later, but by that point they had so effortlessly and so deeply fallen back into their old habits that they kept at it, bickering and teasing each other even as they reassured themselves that yes, they were completely prepared for the New York bar exam. And as much as Dana was ready to move on, eager to sit the bar and get admitted and prove to the Supreme Court and then the world that she had what it took and then some, sparring with Harvey Specter over fried rice had its own charm, and she was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and loss for the three years she’d spent at Harvard. She’d been numb at commencement, too amped up on alcohol and adrenaline and the giant mess that was having her whole family descend on her, and then she’d immediately thrown herself into BARBRI and now – now was the last exam she’d ever study for with Harvey, and it was unnerving and almost sad.

“All right, Scottie,” he said finally, pushing the study materials back at her and decisively shoving their empty takeout boxes into a plastic bag to throw out. “You were so concerned with getting enough sleep; I think it’s time for bed.”

“Probably,” she agreed, glancing at her watch before folding away the papers and sticking them back in her bag. She reached back in and uncertainly pulled out the nightgown she’d packed – which had seemed so light and practical for July in the middle of the city and now looked hopelessly tiny and provocative. But it was either that or ask to borrow sweats from Harvey, which only seemed more intimate, so she took the nightgown and her makeup bag into the bathroom so that she could change and brush her teeth and wash her face. It was fine. It was really kind of stupid, honestly, to be worrying about modesty with her ex-boyfriend.

When she came out of the bathroom he was obediently waiting his turn, stripped down to his T-shirt and boxers. He glanced at her cutesy pink nighty, which came down only to mid-thigh, and then back at her face, the desire frank on his own face and yet almost overpowered by affection, which was a look she’d almost never seen on Harvey. They nodded a little at each other, and Dana carefully got into bed, automatically taking the right side even though she went back and forth in her own bed. Harvey came out of the bathroom a minute or two later and got into bed, too, carefully not touching her as he did.

“You set an alarm?” she asked, her voice carefully neutral. He nodded.

“Six o’clock, and you’re _definitely_ making breakfast.”

“Fine. Good night, Harvey. Sleep well.”

“You, too. See you in the morning,” he answered, and shut off his lamp, and then – it was familiar almost to the point of being normal, Dana realized, as she felt the heat coming off his body when he curved towards her. It wouldn’t last long; Harvey could fall asleep in thirty seconds and often couldn’t quite help attempting cuddling, and somehow that was okay, too. She took a couple long breaths and did her best to empty her mind. She was ready for tomorrow.

\--

Six o’clock came both earlier and later than Dana expected, and she thought it was more or less the same for Harvey, who was fairly out of it when they woke up. Out of the kindness of her heart she let him shower first while she made toast with peanut butter and banana slices in fulfillment of the agreement Harvey had coerced out of her. When he stumbled out of the bathroom, hair still damp but once again fully dressed, she was finished cooking and offered him a self-satisfied smile.

“Congratulate me; I was able to put together a breakfast that’s not only edible, but healthy, using only the ingredients your kitchen made available.” She grinned as he took a seat, and rose from hers. “And now it is your responsibility to make coffee while I take a shower.” Then she grabbed some clothes from her bag and headed for the bathroom.

“Left knob’s hot; right’s cold,” Harvey called after her, with his mouth full, and Dana nodded.

The shower was mainly to wake her up and calm her down; she honestly didn’t care much what she looked like for day one of the bar exam, but it felt good to stand under the spray – Harvey’s apartment, for all its faults, had pretty good water pressure – and she forced her nerves away. She _totally_ had this. She knew way too many people who were dumber than she was who had New York law licenses to be nervous about failing.

After she’d finished showering and gotten dressed, she came out of the bathroom trepidatiously, but surprisingly enough, Harvey _had_ made coffee and handed her a mug.

“Here goes nothing,” she said, smiling wryly as she drank. “Just after we got over finals, right?”

“We got this,” he replied, raising his mug in a mock toast. “By the way, breakfast was pretty good, but decidedly lacking in bacon. You shouldn’t have let the fact that I didn’t buy any get in the way of your making it.”

She rolled her eyes before laughing, lightly, out loud.

“And to think, just yesterday I was starting to think I missed you.”

“Don’t pretend, Scottie, I know not seeing me every day was just eating you up inside,” he warned her teasingly, and she just shook her head.

“I’d be shocked except I’ve never known you _not_ to be full of yourself.” She finished her coffee and brought the mug over to the sink, but if Harvey wasn’t going to wash his dishes she certainly wasn’t going to take care of hers.

“Ready to head out?” he asked as she drew away from the counter, and she nodded.

“You _do_ know how to get there, right?” she asked suspiciously as she rifled through her handbag for her license, a credit card, and some cash that she folded and tucked into her jeans pocket.

“I’ve lived in New York my whole life,” he pointed out. “Of course I know how to get there. C’mon. Let’s go kill day one.”

\--

They stumbled back into Harvey’s apartment at six-thirty, barely able to think or to move but pretty sure they had, in fact, killed day one.

“I am not cooking, so don’t even ask,” Dana said, flopping backwards on the bed with a long sigh.

“Noted,” Harvey agreed, “but you’re paying for takeout this time.”

“Use my Amex,” she said, moving only enough to point at her handbag, on the chair where she’d left it in the morning. He raised his eyebrows at her, amused.

“I’m not getting out of this bed, Harvey,” she assured him, stretching a little as if to claim her space.

“I have _never_ tried to get you out of my bed, Scottie,” he replied cheekily.

“Bite me,” she said, without thinking. “ _Not_ literally.”

“C’mon, it’s just the multistate tomorrow,” Harvey said, whining a little. “You’re gonna be fine, even if you don’t study and you stay up late and you let me show you a good time.”

“I’m too tired,” she told him. “In fact, we’d better get food soon, or I might just fall asleep without eating.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t care. Whatever’s closest.”

“There’s a McDonald’s next door.”

Dana made a slight face before realizing that it was too much effort.

“That works. I want a Happy Meal.”

“A _Happy Meal_?”

“Yeah, Harvey; it’s an appropriate amount of food and it comes with a Tarzan toy; what’s not to like?”

“How have I put up with you for so long?” he said, shaking his head, but his voice was warm and affectionate and she was definitely going to have sex with him before she went back to her parents’ house.

“As if you ever would’ve passed Gerard’s class without my notes,” she retorted, with enough affection that even she could hear it. He laughed and offered a mock bow before leaving, and it was only much later, long after they’d fallen asleep in their clothes after having eaten McDonald’s in bed, that she realized he hadn’t touched her wallet.

\--

Day two was nowhere near as bad as day one, even if the empty seats made painfully obvious the number of people who hadn’t bothered to show up. Harvey said that they were just firmly anchoring the bottom of the curve, and, really, Dana _knew_ she was fine, but she was really ready for the exam to be over. At least there were no essays today.

When they met up afterwards she was almost giddy, and she could see well enough through Harvey’s cocky, self-assured grin to know he was, too.

“That’s it, Scottie, _crushed_ it,” he said as they left the Javits Center together. “Well. I did.”

“Betcha I scored higher,” she said immediately. He chuckled.

“You’re on.”

“Oh, and we’re stopping at the grocery store on the way back. I’m gonna make baked chicken breasts and orzo salad, and you’re gonna pay attention and learn how, because I’ll be in DC this year and you will have to feed yourself like an adult. You know, one who eats plants sometimes.”

He gave her a bit of a look, but the high of being _done_ (and of being together again) was enough to do him in, and they made a quick trip to Pathmark before heading back to Harvey’s apartment.

Navigating the kitchen area of Harvey’s tiny studio was nowhere near as intuitive as it was at her parents’ house, or even at either of their apartments in Boston, but she figured it out. And Harvey himself was, as usual, an adept enough learner no matter how much he enjoyed giving off the image of laziness and nonchalance. Soon enough they were eating dinner and drinking a pretty terrible white wine, enjoying the fact that they’d just jumped one more hurdle in the race to real life. 

“Okay, Scottie, you were right; this is better than getting takeout again. Although I still maintain it has its value.”

“Hey, no one’s impugning the good name of takeout,” Dana said lazily, fiddling with her fork now that she was well on her way to full. “I just think you should know how to make something besides grilled cheese.” She was smiling, though, the food and the wine on top of the exhilaration of being done with the exam putting her in a pretty unbreakably good mood. Harvey clearly had noticed, and was now looking at her with a particular smile she’d seen many times over the past two and a half years.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said softly, and she laughed.

“I _did_ know that, and even if I didn’t, I can count on you to remind me every time you’re trying to get laid.”

He looked chagrined for a second, but only for a second, and Dana laughed again.

“We’ll put the leftovers in the fridge and the dishes in the sink and then I’ll rock your world like usual,” she assured him.

“‘Leftovers in the fridge’? ‘Dishes in the sink’? Mrs. Scott, has anyone ever told you you look _exactly_ like your daughter?”

“Shut up, Harvey. We’re almost lawyers now. We’re _supposed_ to be grownups,” she retorted, but he was already taking care of the dishes and passing her a roll of tinfoil. She quickly put away the leftovers and came up behind him, her arms snaking around his waist to pop open the button and fly of his jeans. He sucked in his breath, and she leaned in closer to blow on his ear.

“Now, why don’t you tell me exactly what you were hoping to get out of that sweet talking?” she whispered, reaching into his pants to grip his cock and then moving lower to cup his balls.

“You know I can’t think when you do that,” Harvey said throatily.

“Why do you think I do it?” she murmured, letting her lips brush against his neck as she fondled him, rolling his balls in her palm as he moaned. She kept it up a little longer, enjoying his obvious pleasure, until he gently grabbed her wrist to stop her motion.

“Scottie,” he panted. “It’s been two months. You can’t… _I_ can’t…fuck, you gotta stop, I don’t wanna come in my pants.”

Dana smirked a little but obediently pulled away from him, casually yanking off the long-sleeved T-shirt she was wearing as he turned around and watched her walk slowly towards his bed. He quickly shoved his jeans down over his hips and toed himself out of them, following her, and when she had stripped down to her underwear and flopped on the bed he was beside her almost immediately, pulling her hips against his and kissing her furiously. She ran her hands eagerly over his back, his shoulders, his ass, and her desire would’ve knocked her flat if he hadn’t taken it upon himself to do just that, rolling her onto her back and settling on top of her without once breaking their kiss. Her thighs fell apart and she wrapped them around his waist, her hips gently thrusting in time with his. He groaned and she sucked hard on his tongue as she tried to pull him even closer, reveling in the solidness of his body pressing into hers.

Finally, breathless, Harvey drew his mouth away from hers and panted for a couple seconds as he stared down at her before lowering his mouth to her neck, then her collar bone…her breastbone…He paused at her navel, letting his tongue lick inside until her back arched and she couldn’t help the high pitched, needy whimpers that were coming out of her mouth. Then he hooked his thumbs in her panties and pulled them off, and he moved even lower, fucking her steadily with his tongue as the pads of his fingers moved over her clit. Dana squirmed a little but quickly gave into it and let the stress of studying for the bar, for finals, for every God damned assignment it had taken to make her number one in her class, melt away until there was nothing in the world but her body and the things Harvey could do to it. 

Once she stopped thinking, it was easy, and she was coming, loudly, hands holding his head in place in a way that would thoroughly embarrass her once she came back to herself but right now it was all pleasure radiating through her body, throbbing between her legs in time with her rapid heartbeat.

He looked up at her, proud of himself, when she was finished, and it was all she could do to manage a lazy, satisfied smile as she scraped her nails through his hair.

“That was amazing, Harvey, but joke’s on you, I’m about a minute away from falling asleep,” she said with a bit of a smirk.

“That’s okay; I only need thirty seconds,” he assured her, smirking back, and she laughed and shook her head.

“Take off your clothes,” Dana ordered, pushing his boxers down even as she spoke, and he tugged his T-shirt over his head while she took off the bra she hadn’t quite gotten around to removing earlier. Then her hand closed around his dick again and his eyes slammed shut as he groaned at the contact.

“Mmm, roll over,” she continued, her free hand gently pushing on his shoulder, and he obediently lay back as she sat astride his thighs, his eyes darkening with want as he felt how wet she was. She leaned forward and sucked gently on each of his nipples, teasing him just a little, before she rose to her knees and guided him inside her. He moaned loudly and she didn’t waste any time, riding him hard and fast, loving both the feel of him inside her and the pleasure that was obvious on his face.

It was a little longer than thirty seconds, but he came quickly and she didn’t let up, moving with him through his orgasm and stopping only when she was sure he was finished, still idly tightening and relaxing her muscles around him as his heart and his breathing slowed.

“Oh my God,” Harvey mumbled sleepily, and Dana smiled, leaning forward so that she was lying on top of him, his dick still inside her and showing slight signs of movement as she continued to squeeze him.

“Scottie…” he started, slowly, and she smiled at him before bending her head to suck on his neck.

“Harvey,” she answered, more a vibration against his skin than anything else.

“I think I…shit…”

She didn’t say anything this time, just kept kissing his neck and pulsing around his dick until he moaned and flipped her on her back again, thrusting into her with slow, deep strokes that made them both sigh with pleasure. It was gentle and leisurely, and he pressed close to her, and she thought – not for the first time with this man – that this had to be what people meant when they called it, “making love.”

After they were finished and he’d rolled off her to recover, both of them sweating and panting and perfectly relaxed, Harvey turned to her with a bit of a grin.

“I don’t think I’ve gone that quickly back-to-back since I was fourteen.”

“You were having sex when you were fourteen?” Dana asked dryly. He considered.

“You mean with another person?”

She snorted a little and shook her head.

“There’s that quick wit. What am I ever going to do without you?”

“I’ll miss you, too,” he said, slightly sarcastically, but he turned his head to look at her and…shit, what _was_ she going to do without Harvey? He’d been with her every step of the way towards becoming a lawyer, to the point where almost everything Dana remembered from law school had a Harvey footnote attached. And now they were done playing, and it was never going to be like this again. He was going to put away Manhattan’s criminals and she was going to help draft opinions that would live in case law forever, and…

“Visit me in DC sometime?” she asked vaguely, proud of herself for being able to keep her voice clear.

“Yeah, of course,” he assured her, and whether it was true or not it was enough for right now. She curled into his side in a slightly uncharacteristic display of affection.

“Do you have to go to work tomorrow?” she asked sleepily. Harvey shook his head and planted a kiss on her temple.

“Nah, Jessica gave me the week off. She said I was crazy to do any work between graduation and the exam, but…”

But he needed the money.

“Hasn’t Jessica known you for years? Didn’t she pay for you to go to Harvard? If she doesn’t already know you’re crazy…”

“Shut up,” he said, affectionately, his hand running up and down along the curve of her body. “Stay through the weekend?”

“Mmm,” she agreed, settling comfortably into his embrace. “Okay.”

It was never going to be like this again, but for now, at least, she could fall asleep in his arms and dream ahead to a future that would be even better.


End file.
